How to create a communication strategy in 15 mins

Although we might all realise that consistent communication is a must, when things get busy it could well be the first thing that gets pushed by the way side. One to one’s get postponed, team meetings get cancelled and before you know it, it’s something you did once but don’t really have the time to resurrect or plan out properly.

If this is where you are, this could really help.

Regular and consistent communication with your team is a fantastic way to empower, motivate, inspire and develop your team, and it although you might well be relying on having an open door where your team can grab you when they want, chances are that there’s still at least one person who would jump at the chance of something a bit more formal and focused.

But if planning a communication strategy springs to mind endless brainstorming, and time that you just haven’t got, I’m going to show you a much easier (and quicker) way. In fact, you could probably get the whole thing done and dusted in under 15 minutes.

Step #1 (5 minutes)

Set the timer on your phone for 5 minutes, grab a pen and paper and in that time scribble down as many ways as possible that you can communicate with your team.

Rules here: Don’t limit yourself. You might find yourself thinking: ‘but we don’t do that here’ just scribble it down anyway as you just never know. Once the timer goes off you’re done!

Step #2 (4 minutes)

Draw a triangle and then split it into 5 sections and label them daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly / half yearly, and annually (as shown)

Then…

Look through your earlier list and first pick out something that you do every year. For example, A performance Appraisal

Then choose something for Monthly; Quarterly, and Weekly. Things to note here is only write them down if you’re sure they would work for your team; add value and you can deliver them consistently. If not, choose something else, or by all means decide on a different timescale that would work better.

Finally, have a think about daily and 6 monthly. This may or may not be relevant for your team. If not, just leave them blank.

Step #3 (6 minutes)

Plot all the dates in your diary for the next 6 months and tell your team (This step is even quicker if you’ve an on-line calendar)

I’d love to know your thoughts and whether you managed it in 15 minutes or under let me know by leaving a comment.